Hades by Alessa Thorn

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 The third book in Alessa Thorn's The Court of the Underworld series is Hades. I ended choosing this book as my Angels or Gods bingo prompt for FaRoFeb. I was slightly nervous going into this one despite loving the first two books. Hades and Persephone is a retelling that I see the most for Greek myths, and a good chunk of them just don't hit what I want from it. *Side note, I absolutely adore the Webtoon Lore Olympus.

This retelling sticks a little closer to our original myth than the first two, but this time Alessa isn't making the "villain" into the hero. Even though going into this I was nervous, I ended up loving how she retold it. The prologue or first chapter is them connecting at a club after both escaping from a professional meeting. They are drawn to each other and end up getting hot and heavy in a private room before being interrupted. Hades goes crazy when he returns and she's gone. The main story line is 6 years later and in the same timeline as Asterion and Medusa. 

I love how strong and sassy Persephone was. Yes she was a little naïve in life and untrained in her magic, but she was so confident in her sense of self. The banter between Hades and Persephone was on point. I also loved that Hades asked her to fix his garden and she made a forest instead. She also was finally able to stand up to Demeter and I like how Hades just laid the breadcrumbs but Persephone really found the strength in herself. Plus they were so steamy together. There's a fun scene where they pretty much destroy his office. I also love that when Persephone's emotions run high wood furniture around her will start to grow. It just cracks me up.

When she gets kidnapped I was a little "meh" about that plot device, but I loved that it led to the rescue of the "inventor" that's been teased throughout the series so far. I was thinking it might Hephaestus or a demi-god I wasn't aware of, but we get Hermes! He actually ends up being the next book before we get to the other three court members. Persephone also gets to go hog wild with her powers and even impresses Ariadne (the assassin). She just gets so bad-ass at the end and I loved that Hades was just like "go get 'em tiger" and sat back. 

I'm super excited to continue the series and can't wait to continue! I know I've mentioned it in my previous reviews, but in case you're reading this first, READ THESE BOOKS! They are short, steamy, funny, swoony and so good. I couldn't praise these books enough and are some of the best retellings I've ever read. These are also some of the rare shorter books where I don't feel like I need more to complete the book. I want more because I love them, but I don't feel the relationship needs more. It also helps that there's a kind of fated mates or long pining going on for the couples throughout.

Have you read Hades?

Bookishly Yours, 

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hades, Alessa Thorn, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 203 pages, published in 2020